Over 10,000 people participated in the Asian Paints C10K Coimbatore Marathon and more than 250 people took part in the walkathon organised by the Coimbatore Environmental Society, both aimed at creating environmental awareness, in the city on Sunday.
Kenyan national Isaac Kemboi and S. Sowmya came first in the 10 km run for men and women respectively and S.M. Sanjay and V. Soniya won the first place in the 5 km run for men and women respectively.
According to the organisers, the second edition of the marathon was held under the theme “go green”.
Sujit Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Coimbatore District (Rural), flagged of the run at Nehru Stadium at 5.30 a.m. in the presence of R. Mohan Kumar, regional manager, and Raaj Varman, area manager of Asian Paints.
The participants had free entry for the marathon and registered participants were provided t-shirts, kit and refreshments. While 40 prizes were given to the winners for 10 km and 5km in men’s and women’s categories, all the participants were given medals, certificates and tree saplings.
Air pollution
Coimbatore Environmental Society organised a walkathon to raise awareness on air pollution.
The walkathon started from Bharathi Park at Saibaba Colony at 7 a.m. and ended at KTVR Group Hospital. The Society’s president V. Janarthanan and vice-president M.S. Vijaya Raghavan spoke about the growing threat of air pollution and remedial measures.
The participants took pledge to keep the environment and air clean.
